Gakuen Basketball!
by TheBambooGrove
Summary: Mikan accepts a scholarship to Alice Academy - the school for the athletically and academically inclined. She makes her way to the basketball department only to find that.. She's the only girl! She meets a nice boy named Ruka, who she instantly likes. However, a certain someone immediately catches Mikan's gaze. { Natsume x Mikan }


**Gakuen** **Basketball!  
**_Chapter 1: Tryouts! __  
_

A/N: Hello! I'm really happy you decided to click on my story :) I'm trying my best to make this fanfiction enjoyable, so I hope you like it!

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Mikan Sakura stared up in awe. She couldn't believe her eyes. She was frozen. Her jaw couldn't seem to shut.  
"_So this is what a rich kid's school looks like!_" Mikan thought in disbelief. The place was too good to be true. She managed to mentally slap herself back to reality and slowly closed her mouth. The grand, fancy metal gate towered Mikan as it opened. As soon as she walked through the gate, she could feel the easygoing, wealthy, rich kid aura among the students. A few people looked at her oddly when they noticed a girl with 'commoner' clothing.

"They have it all.." Mikan muttered. Mikan grew up as a very poor girl. She lived in the countryside with her grandfather and had a rather simple life. Every morning she would wake up, attend school and then do her household chores when she got back. When she had some free time, Mikan did what she enjoyed doing most.. Basketball. She was quite talented despite being a middle schooler. She played in her school team and was eventually discovered by a few agents willing to take her in for a High School scholarship. Although, she already had one school in mind. Alice Academy, the school for the Academically and Athletically gifted. It had one extremely massive school as the base point. That is where all the students, Kindergarten - Grade 12, attended. The campus provided many departments for each talent. The dorms were divided into 4 sections. One for students who excel only in academics, one for those who excel in only athletics, a prestige dorm where only the richest, smartest and most athletic students stay and..

"The scholarship dorm?" Mikan asked the teacher that was showing her around.  
"Yes. Right over there!" The man pointed to a shabby looking dorm, which looked incomplete and had wooden planks cover holes in the walls.

"EHHHH?!" Mikan exclaimed as she compared her dorm to the three other dorms. She sighed, accepting her fate. "I was destined to be poor." She dramatically sobbed.  
"Scholarship students are lucky enough they don't have to pay the expensive tuition fees. Don't complain, kay?" The teacher stated. He seemed annoyed, but he stated it cheerfully and played it off quite well.

"S-sorry!" Mikan bowed many times, "O-oh yeah, what's your name Teacher-san?"  
"Pfft.." The teacher laughed, he flipped his blonde hair and twirled for his grand introduction, "I'm Narumi-sensei! Your homeroom teacher! This tour is done. Since it's Sunday, feel free to explore. Just be careful, mmkay? You start school tomorrow! Have fun." Narumi sensei waved and walked away. Mikan nodded with determination in her eyes.

After exploring the campus for around 2 hours, she finally made her way to the basketball department. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She knocked again, but this time, the door opened on it's own. She could hear the sound of the basketballs dribbling and players laughing.

"Excuse me.. Hello. I'm Mikan Sakura and I'll be joining you in the basketball depar-" Before Mikan could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by the guys on the court. They dropped their basketballs on the court.

"A GIRL?! In the Basketball department?!" One guy pointed out.  
"No way! For real?" Another asked.

Mikan looked around. She was the only girl. "O-oh, I think I'm in the wrong place. I should go find the girl's basketball -" Again, Mikan was interrupted by a guy.

"There is no girl's basketball department." He said, he seemed to be regularly speaking, but he gave off a scary aura. Mikan's eyes widened.  
"What do you mean?" She asked.  
"Are you an idiot or what?" He asked her, scratching his head, "To get in the basketball team, you have to meet a standard. Tryouts is mandatory. All the girls the tried out were just here for the guys and couldn't even shoot a ball."

As soon as he finished his sentence, another boy ran up to her and shook her hand. "Don't mind Natsume, he's always like that." The boy smiled, "I'm Ruka Nogi, assistant captain of the basketball team. I heard from Narumi Sensei that you're the new transfer student?"

"Y-yeah!" Mikan smiled, _he seems quite nice_.  
"Whoa. I heard you got here through a scholarship. You must be good then! Welcome to the tea-"  
"Ruka. She has to try out first." Natsume interrupted, glaring at the girl.  
Ruka gave Mikan a shrug then leaned in closer, "Don't worry. It's easy." He whispered.  
Mikan blushed bright red. _He seems like a prince_!

"Let's see what you got, ugly girl." Natsume coldly said, throwing a basketball at her.  
"Natsume. Be nice." Ruka kindly demanded. Mikan caught the ball, she had a fire in her eyes. Everyone in the room could tell she was angry. It was as if she was a different person. Natsume smirked.

"You. Kokoro." Natsume bluntly stated, pointing at a member of the team. "Verse her. Just you and her."  
"EH? ME?" Kokoro asked, still surprised.  
"Yeah."  
"WHAT? I thought I'd be versing you, Natsume!" Mikan angrily yelled.  
"I'd crush you." Natsume mocked, sticking his tongue out.  
"_That bastard! I'll get him for sure!_" Mikan thought. Although, she knew for now, that she should just stick to the tryout challenge.

Kokoro sighed, but then shrugged. He smiled, "I accept the challenge. Normally I wouldn't go easy on girls, but if she's gonna be on the team, then I wanna see if she'll be an effective player." Everyone cleared the court and sat on the benches. It was only him and Mikan on the court now. Mikan handed Kokoro the ball.

"You can start." She suggested.  
"Eh? what? Are you mocking me?"  
Mikan giggled, "No. I'm just better at stealing."

Kokoro started dribbling the ball. Mikan guarded him, but Kokoro was slick and managed to past her. He laughed, as he ran to the other side of the court, _Maybe I was expecting too much for a gir_.. Before Kokoro could finish his thought, midway through his sprint across the court, he lost the ball. No, he didn't lose it. He figured that when he dribbled, the ball was no longer there. _IT WAS STOLEN?! When did she..?! _Kokoro asked himself in disbelief.

"But how?! There's no way you could have.." Kokoro questioned, still in shock. The other guys from the basketball team seemed to be in shock too.

"I'm good at stealing the ball." Mikan reassured. She began to dribble and quickly took advantage of his shock. She ran passed Kokoro and quickly shot in the ball. The ball went it. Kokoro fell to his knees.

"You're really good, Sakura." Kokoro admitted.

"Call me Mikan! Does this mean I'm in?" Mikan looked towards Natsume. All the boys that sat on the bench whispered him to say yes.

"Not bad. But there's one more thing in the tryout." He countered.  
"Eh?! But you said..." Mikan bargained.

"It's simple. Why do you play basketball, Mikan?" He interrogated.  
Mikan paused.. She thought for a minute or two and finally came up with her sincere, honest answer.

"I play basketball because I love it! I've never really been good at anything but basketball. It makes me happy. I can't imagine myself getting tired of it. Ever." She responded confidently, "When I'm older, I wanna be in the WNBA. But not just any player.. I wanna be Mikan Sakura, the best basketball player!" An aura of confidence surrounded Mikans presence. She looked like a cute, desperate puppy.

Natsume looked at her coldly. However, it turned into a little smile. He then chuckled sincerely.  
_Whoa. He actually looks cool like that.. _Mikan noticed. _Wait no, he's a jerk! What am I thinking?!_ She mentally slapped herself back to reality.

"Ruka." Natsume stopped and looked at Ruka. They both nodded and looked at the girl.

"Welcome to the team, Mikan-chan!" Ruka declared.

This was the start of Mikan's school life at Alice Academy. Of course she didn't know it yet, but this was the best decision she's ever made in her life.

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A/N: End of chapter 1! How do you guys like it? Please review! It'd mean a lot to me. :)


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